Category Archives: General

Singapore a top choice for migrants

Posted on 5 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on Singapore a top choice for migrants

SINGAPORE is a top immigration hot spot, according to a global survey conducted by Gallup.

If it were to take in all adults who wish to settle in the country, its adult population of 3.6 million would jump to 13 million, said the survey released this week.

Gallup arrived at this figure by using what it called the Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI).

The index is the estimated number of adults who wish to leave a country permanently subtracted from the estimated number who wish to immigrate to the country, as a proportion of the total adult population.

The higher a positive PNMI value, the greater the potential of net population gain, proportional to the population size.

Singapore emerged tops with the highest PNMI value of 260 per cent, followed by Saudi Arabia (180 per cent), New Zealand (175 per cent), Canada (170 per cent) and Australia (145 per cent).

At the other end of the scale, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s score was minus 60 per cent, which means that more people want to leave the country permanently than settle in it.

For the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, only Arab nationals and Arab expatriates were interviewed for the 2007-2009 survey, which polled about 260,000 people aged 15 and older in 135 countries. Continue reading →

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PM Lee doesn’t expect another dip in Singapore’s economy

Posted on 3 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on PM Lee doesn’t expect another dip in Singapore’s economy

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday he does not expect another dip in Singapore’s economy.

Mr Lee was giving his assessment on the global economic outlook ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, which will take place in Singapore.

The prime minister noted that most countries are out of the “trough of spasm” that was experienced at the start of the year, and said Singapore is at a stable position.

That’s because of quick government response to the financial meltdown, and measures by the US to strengthen its banking and financial systems. In Asia, Mr Lee noted, China and India have helped to drive growth.

Earlier this year, some economists believed that Singapore might experience a W-shaped recovery — meaning a second dip after this initial bout of recovery.

It is the first time Mr Lee has said that he believes a second recession in Singapore is unlikely for now.

He said the preliminary 0.8 percent year-on-year economic growth in the third quarter this year was “nothing to be proud of, but something to be grateful for”. The government’s GDP forecast for the year is now at minus 2.5 to 2 percent. Continue reading →

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